Favorite OOTS Character Tournament: #7 ELAN v #10 XYKON

[alwaysbebatman]

[FYI, Voting has ended]

And for our very first matchup, may I introduce to you...

#7 ELAN	vs	#10 XYKON

Rank )	Name :	Points ,	Ballots ,	Average ,	10s
7 )	Elan :	178 ,	32 ,	5.56 ,	3
10 )	Xykon :	134 ,	26 ,	5.15 ,	2

The numbers by each character's name is the sum of the points awarded to the character on all ballots in the Character Popularity Poll thread over the past week, along with the number of ballots the character appeared on, the average points of those who included them, and the number of voters who gave each their 10 point position.

We will start with 2 days allotted for debate and persuasion and then around this time Monday afternoon voting will (officially) begin, and I will begin posting running tallies regularly. The next day on Tuesday the debate stage for another 3 matchups will begin, but the voting will continue on the three that started today until NEXT Saturday.

Once voting begins, just vote for the character who is your favorite of these two. Whoever gets the most votes goes on to the second round, while the other is eliminated.

The qualifications for "Favorite" are personal and up to the decision of each balloter alone. This is not a competition for who would win in a fight, or who is the most moral UNLESS that is what makes them YOUR favorite.

Enjoy debating the merits of these two characters and seeing how many of your fellow forumites agree or disagree.

Go!

[Rogan]

Lets see.. Both Chars get a fair share of good lines, but I think Elan has more of them, especialy funny one liners.

Elan can be annoying, but I think, as long as you don't have to deal with him but can watch others doing so, he is rather funny.

So, there are reasons to vote for both of them. I know who will get my vote, but I'm looking forward to hear what the rest of the playground thinks.

[2D8HP]

Elan by far.

He's no Greyview, but still better than Xykon.

[martianmister]

Elan, by far.

[alwaysbebatman]

This is a tough one for me. Oddly, as different as the two are, they have a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses as characters.

Both can be rather one-dimensional, and willfully stupid for the sake of comedy.

But they can show unexpected depths at just the right moment that it makes sense despite their usual idiocy, and really has an impact.

Among Xykon's finest moments where he shows unexpected depths:

Spoiler

Show

His little monologue about the visceral pleasure of bad coffee, leading up to his freak out when he realizes what he sacrificed by becoming a lich.

And at the climax of SoD, where he tells Redcloak about success in EVIL is all about how low you'll stoop to win.

And the two great monologues on power he gives while first kicking Roy's ass, and later Vaarsuvius's.

Xykon is a better antagonist than he gets credit for. But in spite of being mainly a comic relief foil, Elan is in many ways the heart and soul of the Order.

Elan's finest moment was realizing that he was in a phantasm because --as painful as it was-- the things his heart desired most were all stupid bad ideas that really shouldn't actually happen. That's a tough truth to face.

I am undecided and want them to both win.

[alwaysbebatman]

Guys! This match is also happening!

[Zaclock]

Xykon has many of the best speeches of the entire comic. Elan is one of the funniest characters. Tough choice, but I go with Elan.

[Euclidodese]

Elan is a brilliant, beautiful boy (and I know he's going to win this) but every point I have to offer has to go to The B-A-Double-D BADDEST Sorcerer on the planet, and undoubtedly the most dominant Lich on the continent: Xkon... He's a beast.

He's one of the funniest characters in the comic, and at the same time he's effortlessly cool, and has managed to never lose his 'monster-chops,' he's never stopped being baddass.

He's the cool character who's dialogue you want to read, but he's also the epic villain you want to see defeated... He's brilliant.

[alwaysbebatman]

I'm still undecided, but I agree: one of the great things about Xykon is that he always manages to be entertaining but at the same time hateable. It's a feat!

[Present 2.0]

For the most Part, Xykon is there to be funny and to be threatening. He excels at both. But this is Comedic Comic. And since it is a pretty good one, almost every character gets to be funny. And there are other Villains who manage to be threatening. I was also not that impressed by Xykons Power-Speeches.

Elan also manages to be funny and to be heartwarming at Times. I prefer Elans warm heart over Xykons threatening presence. And I liked his Trial in Girards Illusion. He also gets Point for starting the Development of a Character that I like much more and who seems to be relatively underrated.

So Elan gets my Point.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Xykon earns my vote.

[Fincher]

Elan. Best character in the comic.

[LadyEowyn]

Voting for Elan!

[PH7]

Well I was going to say Xykon becaue of his evil speech at the end of Start of Darkness, but then this song popped into my head:

Vote, vote, vote, vote for the best bard in the comic!

[Joerg]

My vote is for Xykon.

[Ruck]

They're both great characters. Xykon is pretty funny, and I enjoy how his lackadaisical attitude doesn't prevent him from being on top of things.

But Elan is not only the heart of the Order, and drives a lot of the jokes, but he's also had two of the best and most affecting subplots regarding his character growth (with Haley and Tarquin). Between his importance to the party, the plot, and his growth over the course of the series, Elan gets my vote.

[Peelee]

I was gonna joke about being in before people try to actually vote, but I'm too late for that.

[Elanasaurus]

I vote for Elan! Always inspiring Competance!

[Sinewmire]

Realllllly tough.

I quote Xykon a lot more often than Elan, and Start of Darkness gives me chills at Xykon's badassery...

Elan is a lot of fun, and I loved him in BRitF...

but it's got to be XYKON.

Badass?
REALLY badass.

[hroþila]

I vote for Xykon.

[Dr.Zero]

I vot for Xykon

[Arkku]

Why choose the lesser evil? I vote Xykon.

[Hamste]

Elan for me. Quite like the character particularly seeing he seems a bit brighter lately.

[Bob_McSurly]

Xykon is funny, but I hate him. Granted, he's a villain, and his job within the narrative is mostly to be hated (and be funny), but a recognition that he fulfills his narrative role doesn't make me like him, per se.
Elan, on the other hand, is actually likeable. He's almost as funny as Xykon, and he gets made fun of a lot (so I feel sorry for him), but the fact that he his a nice (almost) innocent person, whereas Xykon has literally no redeeming qualities, makes me give my vote to Elan.

[137beth]

I'm going with Xykon. Without him, there is no story, since the Order was formed specifically to oppose Xykon. Sure, Redcloak may have found another arcane caster to rope in to his plan, but Roy only found out about it because of Xykon.

[Rogan]

I get a vote!

You get a meteor swarm!

One vote for Elan

[white lancer]

For me, both of these characters are appealing largely for their comedy. Of the two, Xykon is probably a bit funnier to me, just because there's only so much mileage one can get out of the idiot doing idiotic things...but it's close enough that there's room for other areas (particularly character development) to be a factor. And of these two Elan has much better development. It's been great to watch him grow as a character over the course of the comic, so I give him the edge.

[alwaysbebatman]

Here are the running totals in this contest so far:

	15 Block	Nods
#7)	Elan	13
#10)	Xykon	8

[Peelee]

Xykon.


Wheeeeee!

[alwaysbebatman]

I hate to vote against either. I think I'm gonna abstain.